War Footing
by Steven Baleshiski
Summary: Immediately after the Air Nomad Genocide, Ba Sing Se and the Earth Kingdom prepare for war. I do not own ATLA or LoK, Zong Zeindou is my OC
1. Chapter 1

Luan Ta sat, arms bound to a stone chair, in utter misery. He was exhausted, dehydrated, starving, and in lots of pain. His legs were unbound, since they had both been broken. The cell was dark, only being illuminated when Dai Li came in with those annoying green glowing crystals. He had no way of telling time, but he guessed he'd in captivity for about a week. In that time, he'd eaten only three times. He barely got any sleep.

He thought about how he'd ended up here. He hadn't known his identity had been compromised until the Dai Li came for him. He never saw it coming. They had come up through the ground under his house and jumped him. Luan was a master firebender but the fight was over before it began. They knocked him out and he'd woken up in this damn cell.

The Dai Li had banged him up pretty good. He had expected torture. They had broken his knees, snapped his shine bones and femurs, encased his hands in rock and then crushed them, and broken his nose. He could only see out of his right eye, as a rock-covered fist had nailed him in his left eye and it was swollen shut. They frequently squeezed and struck his broken bones, which was excruciating.

To top it off, they had fed him precious little (literally fed him, as they had smashed up his hands). The scraps they fed him were always rotten, and the water dirty. At least they had placed a chamber pot under his chair, although the hole they left so that his waste would end up in the chamber pot made the chair even more uncomfortable than it already was.

None of this surprised him. He had expected torture. What shocked him was that they never asked him any questions. He was the Ministry of Intelligence's section chief for Ba Sing Se. He knew the identities of every agent, assassin, and informant in the city. He knew of all operations being conducted behind the walls. And yet, the Dai Li asked him nothing. They came in, tortured him, and left. They didn't show any sadistic glee. In fact, they didn't express any emotion at all as they methodically inflicted pain he didn't know humans could endure. Several times he had tried to goad them in speaking, but they never made a sound. The only noises in the cell were his own screaming and the cracking of bones.

Luan supposed it was good that they didn't ask him anything, as he was very close to breaking. He was surprised he could endure this level of agony, and didn't think he could for much longer. The irony of the situation wasn't lost on him. How many people had he broken, how many prisoners had he burned, scarred, tortured throughout his career with FNMOI? Shoe was on the other foot now.

He jerked up when he heard a noise from in front of him. An opening was bent in the stone wall. Luan had to admit that having no doors was clever. A firebender trying to escape needs a door to open. An earthbender can just bend his way through the wall, thus leaving no door to escape through. Out of the opening came the familiar green light emitted by a glowing crystal, held by a Dai Li agent. The agent closed the hole in the wall behind him, and bent the glowing crystal into the ceiling illuminating the cell completely. Luan looked up at the man. He wasn't one of the agents that had been torturing him. His hair was cut short, his face clean shaven. He was on the older side, muscular but not huge, and very tall. His eyes were piercing, and he exuded a sense of danger that sent a shiver up Luan's spine.

The newcomer stared right into Luan's eyes, into his soul. Luan forced himself to hold eye contact, and the staring contest stretched on for several agonizing minutes. Finally, the agent broke eye contact to look him up and down. Luan's heart started racing, and he had to fight to keep the fear off his face as he braced for another round of torture. The agent began circling him, walking slowly around the chair. Luan forced his expression to remain impassive as the intense man before him circled the chair for a third time, a decidedly predatory look on his face.

Finally, he stopped and stared Luan in the eyes again. "I am Dai Li Director Zong Zeindou" he said, his voice deep and authoritative. "What's your name?"

Luan blinked in surprise. The other agents never spoke. They tore him apart in absolute silence. Now the Director of the organization was here before him, speaking to him. It made sense, he thought. They had been softening him up before beginning the interrogation. And he had been softened up alright. Luan's voice was hoarse and cracked from dehydration. "My name is Lee-Bai Ly" he said, hoping his alias would hold up.

Zeindou kicked his right, broken leg, causing him to yelp in pain. "Lying to me will be excruciating. I would advise you be truthful."

"Luan. My name is Luan." He wasn't going to resist on the small stuff. He didn't know how much resistance he had left on the big stuff.

"Luan...?"

"Ta. Luan Ta."

Zeindou smiled and pulled a flask out from within his robes. He poured a small amount of clean water into Luan's mouth. Luan swallowed it greedily, dehydrated as he was. "See how much better telling the truth is" Zeindou said, his voice deceptively friendly given the menace in his eyes and danger given off by his very presence. "Lying will bring you pain, the truth will bring you relief."

"We know a great deal about you Luan" Zeindou continued. "You are, or were, a high ranking member of the Fire Nation Ministry of Intelligence, section chief for the city of Ba Sing Se. You've held that position for three years now, ever since your predecessor died from a nasty case of bird flu." Zeindou leaned in to whisper in Luan's ear "actually it was the poison we slipped into his wine that killed him, but the symptoms are identical to those of bird flu so your mistake is understandable." He resumed circling the chair. "It was during your tenure as section chief that FNMOI blackmailed Hua Lang, secretary to the Council of Five, into becoming an informant. Hua has been very helpful in feeding your country false information, so I thank you for coercing her into your service." Luan forced his expression to stay impassive, though learning his highest placed asset had been compromised from the very beginning was a punch in the gut. "Now, lets broaden our knowledge about you. What did you know about the attack on the Air Temples?"

"Nothing." Zeindou slammed a rock gloved hand onto Luan's shattered left hand. "AHHH nothing. Fire Lord Sozin would never have compromised battle plans sending them to the section chiefs. What if the messenger hawks were intercepted? We knew something was coming but we weren't in the loop on the attack."

"You knew something was coming?"

"The Fire Lord has been preparing for war ever since the death of Avatar Roku. I knew some kind of attack would happen, sooner rather than later. I didn't know what the target would be, what the exact date would be, or how large scale an attack it would be."

Zeindou stared into his soul again. Luan looked down, not wanting to see those haunting eyes anymore. He was telling the truth. Sozin plays things close to the vest. Luan doubted even the War Council had been aware of Sozin's plans for the Air Nomads. He prayed Zeindou would see that he wasn't lying.

"And what does Sozin have planned for Ba Sing Se?"

"Nothing. The Fire Nation isn't anywhere near striking range of this city."

"Nothing? No sabotage, no assassinations, no terrorism, nothing? The Fire Nation has no plans of covertly striking this city? Now why do I find that hard to believe." Luan started to tear up as he braced for pain. Of course FNMOI had orders to strike at Ba Sing Se now that war had begun, to disrupt the Earth Kingdom command structure and damage morale. Luan didn't want to betray his people by divulging intel, though he realized with a heavy heart that it was only a matter of time before he broke, and not much of it at that. Zeindou stomped on his shin, right at the point of the break. Luan screamed in agony, tears falling freely now.

"It is most unfortunate that you are not in a more cooperative frame of mind" Zeindou said, walking towards the wall he came in through. He bent an opening, and in walked the two agents who had been torturing Luan since his arrest. He left the cell, closing the hole behind him. "P-please" Luan sobbed. The agents ignored his pleas as they set to work without expression.


	2. Chapter 2

Zong Zeindou sat in his office, mentally reviewing his conversation with Luan Ta. The man was nearing his breaking point, that much Zong could tell. A few more rounds of torture and he'd be singing. There was no rush. Directive 8065 had detained every Fire national in the city, and the lockdown the city was in would prevent any collaborating Earth nationals from leaving the city before Luan broke and divulged their identities.

There was no immediate threat to the city. Any plan the Fire Nation had was foiled by the detention of all their people. Now they had to separate government agents from civilians. They had already isolated the ones they had known were spies before Directive 8065, and ones who had been identified by the spies who had already broken under torture. Once Luan Ta broke, they'd be able to slap a bow on this puppy.

Zong looked down at the parchment on his desk. He was drafting new immigration guidelines for the city that he intended to present to the Earth King. Directive 8065 had uprooted FNMOI's division in Ba Sing Se, and they were certainly already working to rebuild it. Now that the Earth Kingdom and Fire Nation are at war, infiltrating the city would much harder for people with noticeable Fire traits. Zong expected FNMOI agents to claim to be political dissidents and/or opponents of the war seeking refugee from Sozin's secret police. They would have to be distinguished from genuine dissenters fleeing the Fire Lord.

To this end, one of Zong's new guidelines was that anyone of Fire decent seeking entry to the city be handed over to Dai Li agents for interrogation. The Dai Li were the only Earth citizens with extensive knowledge of Fire Nation geography, politics, culture and history, more so than even many Fire peasants. The agents would feign ignorance and ask trick questions to see who gets caught in lies.

Zong's main concern was that, as the war progressed, more and more refugees would have Fire traits. War children would make weeding out FNMOI agents much harder.

Zong had also made changes to Ba Sing Se's policy regarding entering and exiting rings of the city. Under current laws, citizens of the Upper Ring could go anywhere in the city freely, except of course the Palace itself. Citizens of the Middle Ring could move freely about their own ring, the Lower Ring, and the Agrarian Zone. Citizens of the Lower Ring could move about their ring and the Agrarian Zone. To enter a ring higher than one's own required a citizen of that ring to give you permission and chaperone you while you were there. You had to leave the moment they were done hosting you.

Zong wanted to change that. He wanted to make it so that one needs permission from the Dai Li to leave one's ring, regardless if one was going to a ring above them or below them. He wanted the Dai Li to have complete control over movement between rings.

Zong reviewed the guidelines one last time, then rolled up the parchment and tucked it into his robes. He stood, left his office, and made his way to the Earth King's private office. He arrived in a few minutes and entered. The Fiftieth Earth King sat behind his desk, writing on parchment. It was obvious that the elderly King hadn't been sleeping well. No one had been, since the genocide.

"There you are Zong" the King said as the Director bowed. "Have you drafted new guidelines for entry into the city?"

"Yes." He reached into his robe and pulled out the document, handing it to the King. "Let's see here" the King muttered, reading Zong's guidelines. They included handing anyone with noticeable Fire Nation traits over to the Dai Li and outrightly banning anyone with even minor Fire features from entering the Upper Ring. They also included restrictions on moving between the Rings, requiring Dai Li permission to enter and exit Rings.

The King spoke: " I am approving both of your guidelines regarding individuals with Fire blood. I don't understand why you wish to make such drastic changes to our laws regarding movement between the rings."

"The ministries, the military, and the Council of Five are all based in the Upper Ring. Fire Nation spies need access to the Upper Ring in order to have access to the Earth Kingdom's decision makers. And, in order to disrupt the chain of command, Fire Nation assassins would have to be able to physically reach their targets, who reside in the Upper Ring. By allowing the Dai Li to control movement between rings, we establish the Lower and Middle Rings as defensive barriers protecting the Upper Ring."

The King nodded. "Very true. I will authorize this security measure as well. Now there is the matter of the Fire nationals we've detained here in the city. Have you made progress in identifying Fire Nation agents?"

"Yes. Many agents have already been identified. The FNMOI Section Chief of the city has been identified and is close to breaking. When he does, he'll divulge the identities of those agents still unknown to us."

"Very good. Once they've all been weeded out, we can deport the civilians."

Zong frowned at that. "With all due respect Your Majesty, I believe it would be an error to release the civilians. They have lived in Ba Sing Se. They have knowledge about the city and relationships with residents here. I strongly advise against letting them go and allowing them to fall into FNMOI's hands."

"I understand your concerns Zong. However, I agree with Wang" (Zong kept his disgust for the Minister of Foreign Affairs off his face) "that releasing the civilians will demonstrate to the world that the Earth Kingdom has the morals and compassion that the Fire Nation does not."

Zong could see that the King's mind was made up. "As you wish. I've said my piece as is my duty as one of your advisors. I will see to it that your orders are carried out."

"Very good. I'm glad to have you by my side Zong. I have a feeling the need for reliable people is about to rise dramatically." Zong smiled and inclined his head. The King stood. "Now then Director, I must get what sleep I can manage. I will issue the official proclamations regarding immigration and movement between rings first thing tomorrow."

"Thank you Your Majesty" Zong said bowing. With that, their meeting was over and Zong left the King's private office. As he walked through the halls of the Palace, his mind was racing. The Fire civilians were not going to be released. He wouldn't allow Ba Sing Se's security to be compromised, no matter what the King wanted to do.

Making the King believe they were deported would be easy. The King didn't even realize how little power he actually had. The Dai Li controlled Ba Sing Se. They would be put on train cars to the harbor, put on ships, and removed from the ships once they set sail. Then they'd be returned to the city and incarcerated in the secret prison the Dai Li had built in the underground ruins of the Old City. What the Earth King didn't know wouldn't hurt him.

Stepping out of the Palace, Zong made his way to his residence. As he walked down the streets, he passed numerous makeshift shrines made of lanterns, to honor the murdered Airbenders. The mood of the Upper Ring was decidedly mournful, with an entire nation wiped out. The world would never be the same. Arriving at his residence, Zong headed straight to his bedchambers, exhausted. Tomorrow he had to implement new security measures, continue weeding out the Fire Nation spies and prepare to disappear the civilians against the will of the Earth King. It was going to be a busy day.


End file.
